Ink for printers is expensive. It almost feels like a scam when a retailer has sells a new inkjet printer for $30, and then it cost $50-70 to replace the ink cartridges. Even fancy laser printers can set you back a pretty penny when it comes time to buy new toner. Here are 4 printing tips that will help you to save on ink.
Print the Minimal Amount of Text
If you need to print an e-mail or a website, you will use less ink if you select only the text that you need, and then copy and paste it into a word processing document. This will prevent you from printing off e-mail signatures and the advertisements that are on the side of web pages.
Print from the Black Ink Cartridge Only
While all printer ink is expensive, color ink is like liquid gold. Before you hit Print, ask yourself, “Does this really need to be printed in color?” Every printing application will allow you to print using the less-pricey black ink cartridge only; this feature can be found under properties or settings.
Lower Your Printing Quality
By default, your printing quality is set to higher-than-normal. This is not surprising considering that this setting will drain your ink quicker, therefore causing you to reorder overpriced ink sooner. Adjusting the settings to print using the lowest quality will help you to conserve ink.
One Page is Better than Two
You can adjust the print settings in programs like Adobe Reader, PowerPoint, Word, and other office productivity applications so that multiple pages can be downsized and printed on one sheet of paper. This tip will save you both ink and paper.
One challenge that you will face is training everybody on your staff to abide by these tips. If everybody conserves using printer ink, then your office supply budget will see big savings. Try and find creative ways to motivate employees to print responsibly. There are also printing solutions and technologies available that will allow you to control the print settings over the network so that you can make for certain that nobody is wasting your precious ink.
For more information about printing solutions that will lower your printing costs, or to learn about other cost-saving best practices for your small business, contact Think Tank NTG at 800-501-DATA.